Rocky Starts
by Pastaaaaaaa
Summary: Alfred is 'stupid', Arthur is grumpy and in denial   sort of  . / Gakuen AU. UK/US/UK, haven't decided. Possibly slight GerIta, Franada, Giripan, SuFin, etcetcetc. Rated for language and possible "suggestive themes." /! ON HOLD. Will continue. !/
1. Chapter 1

So I've been reading A LOT of USUK fics, lately and, I must say, it has piqued my interest in beginning to write again.

As much as I love the main storyline of Hetalia, I find it difficult to formulate any sort of stories I could write that would make sense/be historically accurate.

That said. Woo, 'Gakuen'. Apologies if anybody seems to be OOC, it's been a good long while since I've written anything of a decent length.

Anyway, "human" names are used, and for countries that don't have official human names, I'm just using the most widely used fan-chosen names, I guess.

PS. I know that's not how you spell Feliciano- Arthur doesn't.

* * *

What was it about that obnoxious American that had Arthur so interested in him? A growl would have trickled from Arthur's lips had he not had the decency to compose himself as a proper gentleman would.

He sat in class- History of all classes- clicking a pen in irritation at the oblivious blond sitting to his right. Instead of paying attention, the American was passing notes with a silly brunette boy sitting behind him- Felishiono or something.

Not that Arthur cared; Alfred could do whatever he wanted, it's not like he had feelings one way or another towards Arthur.

Actually, Alfred DID do whatever he wanted. With plans to try out for captain of the school's American football team and, for some reason, to run for class president in addition to that, Alfred seemed to garner attention everywhere he went. To top it all off, Alfred was, without a doubt, one of the most pined for boys in the school; Despite how amazingly daft the boy was. Not that most people cared how intelligent he was with a face like that.

…With blue eyes like that.

No! Arthur snapped back to attention; he would not let his mind wander. Arthur was attractive in his own way, for sure- he was actually fairly aware of this fact, but never considered how it could work to his advantage in any case.

He let out something of a sigh and refocused his eyes on their teacher, hearing, but not quite processing, the lecture he was giving about the Revolutionary War.

…

Upon hearing that sigh, Alfred's eyes wandered over towards Arthur. That grumpy Brit always had a frown on his face and his eyes narrowed in irritation at something or another.

It was only something like the third week of school and Alfred's eyes had settled on the slightly geeky looking, sandy-blond seated right next to him. Why? Well, Alfred wasn't entirely sure, to tell the truth. There wasn't really anything exceptional about him; he was overly grumpy, had hideously huge eyebrows, spoke down to everybody around him and seemed generally unapproachable. His only friends were a strange Frenchman- Francis ( though friend seemed too strong a word ) and… No, that was it.

Yeah, there were plenty of other attractive people in the school that Alfred could set his sights on, but Arthur seemed the perfect mixture of challenge and fun. Not that anybody else would ever agree.

…

The bell rang and Arthur immediately rose from his seat, snatching his books and notes up in one swift movement before heading towards the door. Behind him, Alfred and Felishiono prattled on about their favourite foods, his ears unconsciously strained to hear Alfred's half of the conversation before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned immediately, ready to swat the hand away and shout in the face of whomever had touched him but the words caught in his throat when he realized it was, in fact, Alfred.

"Hey!" Alfred grinned cheekily at the slightly shorter man.

"'Lo." Arthur blinked, slightly taken aback by the sudden contact and closeness of the American.

"I'm Alfred F. Jones!" Alfred held a pencil out, the grin never faltering, "Oh. And you dropped this!"

"I bloody well know who you are." Arthur mumbled, snatching the pencil away. "Who doesn't?" he grumbled. He absently watched as Felishiono ran past the two and straight into a tall, rather intimidating blond, only to attach himself to the man's arm, much to the apparent dismay of the blond.

"Bye, Feliciano!" Alfred had called after him, receiving no reply as the boy seemed to be more interested in the body he had latched onto.

Oh. So that was his name.

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" Alfred grinned as Arthur turned away and began walking. He took long strides so as to keep up with the practically running Brit.

"What for?" Arthur asked earnestly. Alfred was pretty, but Arthur had no real interest in pursuing the daft blond. There probably weren't enough brain cells floating around in that jock's head to even process the fact that Arthur found him attractive, so there was no point.

"Well, I told you my name." Alfred had sounded earnestly dejected. Without warning he dashed around in front of Arthur, effectively blocking his way. "I heard you're a gentlemen and don't they usually, you know, respond when they're being spoken to?" That irritatingly attractive grin had plastered itself across Alfred's face again, much to Arthur's chagrin.

But Arthur couldn't very well ignore what he had said. Nevermind the fact that Alfred had evidently heard things about him, he _was_ a gentlemen so he supposed he'd have to introduce himself eventually.

With a huff and a rather exaggerated roll of the eyes, Arthur grunted out his name for the over-energetic teenager. "Arthur Kirkland."

* * *

A/N:: NAISU TO MEET YOU.

You know, the funny thing is I don't even really like America on his own; it's strange writing such "compliments" about him. ( The insults I'm indifferent to, huh. )

Feedback is awesome. Like I said, haven't written in years. Lemme know if I'm too long-winded or too stupid or whatever, I'd appreciate it.


	2. Chapter 2

Continuing right where I left off ( I had been without internet and no way to post these yet, so, eh. )

* * *

It had been a few days since Alfred introduced himself to Arthur and, much to Arthur's distress, decided the two would be friends. It wasn't that Arthur didn't want to be friends, it was just that apart from a mutual understanding of the English language ( a very BASIC understanding of the English language on Alfred's part Arthur decided ) the two didn't really have much in common.

But here they were, sitting with Feliciano, Kiku, Ludwig and Francis for their lunch break.

"Ve~ Ludwig, what did you bring for lunch today?" Feliciano had immediately asked as the group sat themselves down at the table.

"Potato salad." he grunted in reply, earning a little bought of giggles from the bubbly Italian.

"Isn't there anything else you like to eat?" he smiled, genuine innocence displayed on his face. Arthur wondered momentarily how anybody could read Feliciano's expressions with his eyes seemingly eternally closed.

Ludwig shrugged noncommittally and gestured towards Feliciano's box. "That's pasta, isn't it?"

"How did you know!" Feliciano exclaimed with some worry. "Are you psychic?"

…

After some bickering and Ludwig's vehement denial of being able to read Feliciano's mind, the group settled down somewhat.

"What brings you to our table Arthur-san? Francis-san?" Kiku had finally decided to speak after spending his entire meal in silence, despite the constant back and forth chattering from Feliciano and Alfred.

Arthur was about to answer when Francis decided to take it upon himself to answer for the both of them, "Alfred and mon petit Feliciano so graciously invited us to join you this afternoon."

Ludwig shot a look towards Francis but turned back to his mostly empty plate almost immediately.

"The more the merrier!" Alfred shouted. Arthur wondered how the boy never lost his voice with all the screaming he did, but he supposed after a while one would get used to it. "Isn't that right, Arty?"

Arthur visibly cringed at the shortening of his name, his eyes narrowing in that now oh-so-familiar glare. "My name is Arthur, you prat."

Francis threw an arm around Arthur, only to have it immediately and rather violently thrown off, "Oh, petit, it is a gesture of affection!"

"I don't want your gestures of affection." Arthur snapped.

"Non, non. The nickname!"

"Oh." Arthur lowered his head, feeling a faint blush rising in his cheeks that, undoubtedly, made Alfred grin like the moron Arthur was sure he was.

"What a grumpy old man." Alfred laughed, similarly tossing his arm around his best friend, Kiku, "Right?"

Kiku had the decency to look embarrassed when Alfred spoke, but offered no retort.

Unlike most other students, Alfred never flinched under Arthur's scathing glares despite how hard he tried. "I'm not an old man and I'm most certainly not grumpy." Arthur snapped… Rather grumpily, which only caused Alfred and Francis to laugh.

"Ludwig and I are going to go sign up for the Anime club!" Feliciano suddenly exclaimed, jumping up from the table and nearly knocking his box- still half full of pasta- all over Ludwig. Fortunately, the German had faster reflexes and managed to catch it before it fell. He immediately began scolding the hyperactive Italian as he was dragged away by the elbow.

"You need to be more careful, Feliciano! What if there was a knife in there? What if it ha…" Ludwig's voice trailed off and Alfred and Francis fell into another bought of laughter.

"One day, those two will realise what they have." Francis murmured, Kiku and Alfred nodding in agreement.

Arthur suddenly felt very out of place. While he was "friends" with Francis, Francis was also friends with, well, everybody else. Lost in his thoughts, mostly about his lack of social life, Arthur failed to notice Kiku leave shortly after to sign up for the Anime club as well, and Francis jump up when a certain blond boy walked by.

Alfred remained uncharacteristically quiet as he finished his second hamburger and only when finished did he speak up again- "So!" he started, causing the smaller male to jump. "Ar-_thur,_" he made sure to emphasise the second syllable for the British man, earning himself another glare.

"What?" Arthur snapped, his seemingly eternally foul mood growing considerably more foul when he realised that the two were alone. "Where did everybody go?" he asked, perplexed.

"Here and there." Alfred waved a hand as he stood and walked around to Arthur's side of the table, unceremoniously plopping himself down and draping his arm over Arthur. He was pleasantly surprised when Arthur didn't shove it away and only gave an annoyed grunt at the action.

"What do you want?" Arthur repeated, body stiffening under Alfred's arm.

"I don't know that much about you, you know? I'm sure you know everything about me, though!"

"You bloody well know I do not know anything about you." Arthur snapped, emerald eyes seeking out ocean blues. Surprisingly upset looking ocean blues, as it turned out. At least he thought he saw upset eyes; they were gone as soon as they had come.

"Well then! We'll have to get to know each other." Alfred announced rather loudly, turning a few heads and earning a few whispers and pointed looks.

"I don't real-"

Removing his arm from around Arthur and jumping up to slap his hands on the table, Alfred declared "Tomorrow we'll spend the day watching movies at my house!"

Arthur was just about to reject the invitation when the bell rang, he stood and turned towards Alfred just in time to receive a rather tight hug. "See you after school!" Alfred hollered as he ran off, not giving Arthur time to formulate any sort of reply.

"Wanker." he grumbled as he gathered up his own, and Alfred's, tray to toss. He scooped up his bag and trudged off to his next class.

* * *

A/N:: Lol. TIA.

Thought it might be interesting to note that, at this time, I haven't come up with a title yet.


	3. Chapter 3

Still no internet. Yet another chapter. Any/all reviews, critique and criticism will be taken into consideration in regards to future chapters. But I figured I'd continue writing while I had the time and motivation. :3

* * *

"This… This is…"

"Awesome, right?" Alfred cried while Arthur stumbled across the threshold, unable to dig the proper words out of his repertoire to accurately describe what he was seeing.

As it turned out, Alfred was loaded. His house was more like a mansion, with the longest driveway Arthur had ever seen.

Recomposing himself, Arthur shrugged, "It's alright." he replied nonchalantly. "Could be bigger."

Alfred seemed to consider this quite seriously for a moment before throwing his jacket down by the front door and grabbing Arthur's hand.

_Shock. Warmth. Soft. Such a soft hand._ Arthur's perpetual frown deepened as the thoughts ran, unbidden, through the front of his mind. This was getting ridiculous. Every time he touched him- and it was a lot, Alfred was the touchy-feely kind of guy- little sparks of heat would congregate on the part of his body Alfred had managed to make contact with and a deep blush would find its way across Arthur's cheeks and make his ears burn.

Of course, Alfred would always see it as Arthur being irritated at him.

"Where are we going?" Arthur finally asked through huffs of breath; It seemed like they'd been walking forever through the hallways of the house.

"My room, of course!"

…

Evidently Alfred's "room" was an entire wing of the enormous house, which didn't entirely surprise Arthur.

"We're going to watch movies in here!" he happily announced and threw Arthur's hand down before pointing rather dramatically at a wall. "There!"

"That's a wall, you bloody moron."

"Aha! No, it's not!" He dove towards his rather colossal bed and fumbled around in a night stand's drawer, searching for something. Not finding it there, he rolled to the other side and began searching in the other night stand, all manner of bangs and clanks accompanying the search.

Arthur took this moment to gaze around the "bedroom," peering at the boy's collection of video game consoles and wires laid out across the entire floor, DVDs askew on shelves, sports awards needing dusting, garbage bins filled to the brim with hamburger wrappers and empty ice cream cartons… It was a tidy mess, really.

"Found it!" Alfred shouted. More words followed but Arthur couldn't even begin to guess as to what they were, because "it" was a remote and the "wall" was a television. Evidently equipped with a massive stereo system, as Arthur was certain he had just gone deaf when Iron Man 2 decided to grace them with its presence.

…

A string of expletives had forced its way from Arthur's mouth once Alfred had gathered his wits about him and hit "Mute."

"What kind of a BLOODY FUCKING MORON ARE YOU, ALFRED?" he finally screamed, putting an end to the rant.

Alfred had flinched only the slightest during the screaming, "I only wanted t-"

"Alfred?" a voice called from the end of the bedroom causing England to jump in surprise and a little bit of embarrassment.

"Oh, Mattie. I didn't know you were home!"

England blinked, it was as if he were seeing double. Well, almost double, the other boy- Mattie, apparently- had longer, curly hair. But other than that…

"Oh! I didn't know you had a friend over." Mattie blushed, hugging a white bear close to his chest, "I'm Matthew! I'll just go now." Alfred was going to invite his twin to stay, but he had retreated as quickly as he had come.

With a chuckle, Alfred raised a hand behind his head, scratching the back of his head absently with that silly grin on his face. "That's my twin brother, Matthew. He's quiet so I never know when he's around and when he isn't." he shrugged, dropping his arm to his side.

"So what movie should we watch?" Alfred asked, hoping to move on from the awkwardness that had enveloped the room shortly before.

"I don't care." Arthur grunted, seating himself on Alfred's bed, as it was the only place to sit in the room if one didn't want to be on the floor.

Alfred glanced at Arthur and then turned away immediately, the slightest hint of a blush burning his ears as he took giant strides towards his collection of DVDs. "I know! Let's watch this!" He pulled a case off the shelf and held it up for Arthur to see. "It's a scary movie! Horrifying!"

Arthur was about to ask why he'd want to watch it, then, but Alfred had already put it into his DVD player and seemed, well, excited. He made his way back to his bed and settled down next to Arthur, sitting with his legs crossed, a careful distance away so as not to touch the irritable British man.

From where he had been standing, Arthur hadn't been able to make out which movie it was Alfred had picked out, now that it was on that gigantic wall- with the volume at a decent level- he could see clearly. "The Blair Witch Project?" he questioned, amusement laced into his worse, "That's not scary at all!"

Alfred's head whipped around, eyes wide with fright and the movie hadn't even begun, "You're wrong! This is one of the scariest!" Arthur groaned in irritation but settled down more comfortably on the bed.

"Arthur! ARTHUR!" he felt himself being shaken rather violently by strong hands. "You fell ASLEEP, Arthur!" Alfred was whispering for some reason, but managed to sound like he was still screaming. "I was so scared! It was so scary!"

Arthur rolled his eyes but couldn't help the twinge of guilt he felt for falling asleep while the young American was left to watch such a "scary" movie on his own. "You picked it out." he grunted sleepily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

He reached up to fix his hair as best he could without a mirror and was met with an incredulous look from bright blue eyes. "You do your hair?" Alfred asked innocently. His eyes were wide, glinting with amusement, "I always thought you just woke up and didn't even bother."

Arthur felt a blush rise in his cheeks and his ire begin to rise again, "Of course I do my hair!" he snapped, turning away from Alfred to fix his hair as best he could, "It just doesn't like to be done…" he grumbled, finally giving up. When he turned back around to Alfred, the younger blond immediately burst into laughter and pointed rather blatantly at the top of Arthur's head.

His blush deepened and without warning, Arthur simply stood up and stormed out of Alfred's room. Still occupied by his laughter, Alfred hadn't even noticed his friend departure.

Once outside the room, Arthur didn't really have any idea of where he was going and began walking down corridors, making turns as he felt fit, only to, quite obviously, find himself lost.

"Oh, this is bollocks." Arthur grumbled to nobody but himself. Or so he thought nobody but himself.

"Hello." a little voice called out to him. Arthur craned his head around to search for the source of the voice but could find nobody. "I'm over here." the voice said, and Arthur had no trouble finding the source this time.

He nearly jumped out of his own skin, seeing Matthew just a couple feet in front of him. How had he missed him earlier?

"What are you doing over here?" Matthew asked, head tilting curiously to one side, arms gripping the bear tightly.

"I'm lost." Arthur grunted, "Trying to leave."

Matthew's eyes flickered to the top of Arthur's head, causing the Brit to blush once more, but Matthew said nothing. Instead he nodded, "I can show you the front door." he turned and began walking, motioning for Arthur to follow.

"So you're friends with Alfred?" he asked, seemingly genuinely curious.

"I don't know." Arthur replied, a shrug lifting his shoulders. "He seems to think so."

Matthew shot him a look. "He doesn't have many friends." he practically whispered, as if he didn't want Alfred to hear.

"That's a lie." Arthur grumbled, looking everywhere but at Matthew. "He's always surrounded by people."

"That doesn't mean anything." Matthew retorted, "You and Kiku are the only people he's ever brought home. Everybody likes him, sure, but he's hard to get along with."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Another look. "Whatever he did to make you so angry, he probably didn't mean it."

Arthur's head snapped back towards Matthew, his eyes narrowing once again, "He's a bloody moron with no wits about him. He j-"

"Just wants to be your friend." Matthew cut Arthur off just as they reached the door. "Here you go." he nodded. "I can have one of our drivers take you ho-"

"No thank you." Arthur snapped, storming out of the building, leaving the door wide open.

Matthew groaned and closed the door before heading back.

"Arthur! Arthur!" an excited voice called from the hallway, "Next we can wat-… Oh hey Mattie." the excitement seemed to drain from Alfred's voice when he saw Matthew and not Arthur. "Where did Arthur go?" he questioned, eyes wide.

"He left."

"He left? Why did he leave?"

Matthew shrugged, a little sigh escaping him. "Ask him Monday."

* * *

A/N:: Lol sensitive Iggy is sensitive.

Finally decided on a title. Lame though it may be! I HAVE A TITLE. Idk.  
Happy three chapters.


	4. Chapter 4

Hurrah. Motivation. I don't really know where it came from. And, you know, to tell the truth I don't entirely have an idea of where this fic is going, haha. Usually when I write I plan as I go, tends to work out. But just so everybody knows… XD

* * *

Monday had come all too soon for Arthur who was not looking forward to meeting with Alfred after he had so quickly stormed out of his house. Well, room at least. Storming out of the house had taken much more time and the assistance of Alfred's brother, Matthew.

Arthur scowled when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and then pull him away to arms length, only to turn him around to face his attacker. "Did you miss me?" Alfred asked as if he were somehow aware of the fact that the British boy was thinking about him.

"Not at all." Arthur snapped, attempting to pry himself free from Alfred's surprisingly strong grip. But Alfred would have none of it, his arms tightened around the smaller male and he picked him up suddenly, circling around as if it were a moment from some silly American romance movie. "Put me DOWN you bloody git!"

Alfred just laughed before finally putting Arthur down, oblivious to the eyes watching his every move. Arthur, however, was not.

"Everybody in this hellhole of a school is staring, Alfred." he managed to get out between clenched teeth. His eyes peered around for the bag Alfred had knocked off his shoulder in his excitement at seeing Arthur, spotting it some five feet away. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he dove towards his bag, attempting to gather it up before Alfred managed to.

Of course, he failed.

"No need to worry!" Alfred cocked his head to one side, pearly whites showing through his grin. He held his arm out, bag in hand, offering it to the irritated Brit. Without a word, Arthur snatched the offered bag, slinging it over his shoulder and then stomped his way into the school. Alfred simply blinked, turning to Matthew with a lost look in his eyes.

"I… I said ask him, not tackle him and throw his things everywhere." Matthew sighed, jumping when a white, furry head popped out of his backpack and peered around. "Get back in there, Kumijaro."

"Who are you?" it responded.

Arching an eyebrow at the strange interaction, Alfred laughed before running in after Arthur, "Wait up, Arthur!"

"Ah, moon Mathieu." a voice called to the curly haired blond, "why do you linger outside?"

"Alfred." he groaned, suppressing a girlish squeal when Francis linked his arm through his own.

"Je ne puex pas! I do not see the American abomination!"

…

He had quite literally just spotted Arthur when… "Alfred! Alfreeeeed!" a giggle resonated through the hall and without much warning Feliciano latched onto him for a hug, Ludwig following not too far behind, his cheeks alight with a faint blush.

"Hey Feli!" Alfred replied, giving the smaller boy a hug before slinking out of his grasp; Feliciano was known to stay latched on until it was _absolutely necessary_ for him to release the object of his affection. "What's up?"

"You now how we were supposed to hang out after school, today?" Feliciano's eyes wandered, looking everywhere except Alfred, something akin to guilt flashing in his eyes.

"Yeah, me and you guys and Kiku and Heracles, right?"

Nodding, Feliciano fumbled with his sweater, still unable to look at Alfred, "Well… We can't make it."

"That's fine! I still have Kiku and Heracles!" he proclaimed with a bright smile.

"Well…"

Arthur's smile faltered the slightest bit.

"They can't make it, either." Feliciano whispered, eyes wide.

"What? Why _not?_" Alfred wailed, throwing his arms up into the air, "We talked about this last week!"

"Calm down, Alfred." Ludwig started, pulling a slightly trembling Feliciano behind himself before the boy had the chance to pull out a white flag and change his mind. "That was before," Ludwig sighed, visibly wincing, "Anime club. We meet Mondays after school."

"Oh!" Alfred nodded, "I need a club!" he decided. _But which club?_ he wondered, turning without another word to the pair.

"I could join Anime club…" he began talking aloud to himself, "or maybe, like, swimming!" he 'hmm'd and continued on his way to his first class of the day.

So lost in thought, Alfred didn't notice the small British man before him. He didn't notice the slight flush in Arthur's cheeks when he was spotted and most certainly didn't realize he was about to collide with the grump.

"You… You… You git!" he cried from his spot on the floor. "Watch where you're going, you moron!" Arthur screeched, scooping his papers up for the umpteenth time since becoming acquainted with Alfred.

"Oh man, I'm sorry Arthur! Why were you standing in the middle of the hallway?" he laughed, bending to help Arthur gather his belongings.

Arthur opened his mouth to say something and then immediately closed it. He repeated this another two times before growling, "I wasn't standing in the middle of the hallway, I was heading to class." he snatched his books from Alfred and promptly hit him with one, "**You** ran into **me**."

Without reacting to the abuse, Alfred slung his arm around Arthur, poking his chest dramatically with the opposite index finger, "And it's a good thing! I was looking for you!" he beamed, seemingly pleased with himself. "We should sign up for a club!"

Arthur seemed to recoil from the finger on his chest, his displeasure entirely evident. "Why would I want to do that?" he snapped, squeezing his books tight against his chest. "Especially with you?"

"Because we're friends!" Alfred said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "And friends do things together, right?"

Again Arthur finds himself cut off by the bell and the feisty American bidding him a hasty "see you later" before dashing down the hall.

"Stupid git." Arthur grumbled to himself before ducking into his first class.

Home economics, actually.

Huh.

Well that's an idea.

* * *

A/N:: FRIENDS. FOREVER. AMIRITE?

Yeah, that's an idea. :3


	5. Chapter 5

Gosh I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to this chapter. I've actually **really** been wanting to write but I haven't had any sort of muse. Seriously, I have about a million prompts I want to write about, and a dozen crack stories that have piqued my interest in crack but nothing comes! I suck!

Also. My autocorrect is killing me. D: Telling me I am spelling colour and the like incorrectly. Not to mention what it's doing to foreign languages, goodness.

Anyway.

Enjoitsu.

* * *

Alfred _had_ said he wanted to join a club, right? Arthur grinned to himself as he practically floated up to the sign-up sheet, pen in hand. Wouldn't Alfred be happy that they were doing something together?

It was more likely, Arthur decided, that Alfred would give up and back out.

Grin still plastered on his usually quite refined face, impressive eyebrows furrowed in some sort of strange determination, Arthur pressed the pen to the piece of paper and, in his rather elegant script, wrote both of their names on the sheet.

Arthur Kirkland

Alfred F. Jones

…

"That's not cool at all!" Alfred exclaimed once Arthur had informed him of the club they had been signed up for.

Arthur shrugged his rather delicate shoulders, lifting his hands rather noncommittally into the air with a flourish.

"You said you wanted to be in a club, Alfred. All I did was sign us up for one that I thought would be interesting." his smile was rather sincere, or at least as sincere as Alfred could tell, since Arthur didn't seem to smile all that much.

"But I'm a hero! I'm not a… A house-wife in training!" Alfred shouted, exasperated.

"And I am?" Arthur arched a brow, staring intently at the blond American. "I wasn't aware I was anything other than a proper gentleman."

Alfred snorted, no discernible attempts to hide his amusement from the grouchy Brit. "Who would want you as their wife?" Alfred asked, eyes wide, "You can't cook your way out of a paper bag!"

"That doesn't make sense, you bloody moron."

"Yes, it does!"

Arthur shook his head in amusement, managing to hide the little smirk that played across his lips. "Well," he began rather sincerely, "if you have no desire to join this club with me I'll have to go alone."

"We can join _another_ club, too!"

"We? Alfred I do not have the time to waste on multiple after school activities." Arthur shook his head. "I'm afraid not. It's either this one or nothing, Alfred."

Grumbling a bit, Alfred seemed to consider. He shifted somewhat uneasily before letting out a little sigh. He'd wanted to do something with Arthur because he was his friend! But he didn't want it to be something stupid that he didn't pick.

After some moments of silence, Arthur seemed to get irritated, "Alfred. I can't rightly sit around waiting for you to make a decision." Arthur pulled his sack up onto his shoulder properly and blinked rather pointedly at Alfred, "Cheerio." he waved rather lazily with one hand before turning and heading towards home.

Alfred blinked, "Hey! Wait!" he called, running after his friend.

"What do you want, _now_?" Arthur sighed as Alfred caught up to him. He kept walking at the same, brisk pace.

"Don't you want to do something, today?"

"And why, pray tell, would I want to spend more time with you when I have coursework to finish?"

"What?"

"Nothing, you dolt." Arthur sighed.

"Okay!" Alfred grinned, throwing his arm around Arthur's shoulder. A faint blush rose to Arthur's cheeks and he coughed before throwing the arm off, confused. He shook his head, willing the blush away.

"What the bleeding hell do you think you're doing?" Arthur snapped, shooting a glare at Alfred.

"Coming home with you!"

Arthur came to an immediate halt, arm snapping out to grab Alfred by the arm. "No." he said simply, tone as serious as Alfred had ever heard him.

"No?"

"Are you dim? Do you not understand English?"

"Well, sometimes when you talk I don't really know what you're saying bu-"

"No."

Alfred pouted. "But I want to see where you live!" he announced, grinning.

"I said no."

"But why not?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed, "Because I said no, now belt up and clear off." he virtually growled.

"What?" A look of confusion descended upon Alfred's face at the Brit's words, quite honestly unsure of what Arthur was trying to say.

"Leave me alone." Arthur hissed before stomping off down the street.

Alfred tilted his head to one side, watching as Arthur stormed away. "Heh. He's cute when he's upset." He shoved his hands into his pockets and did an about-face, making his own way home.

"I guess it wouldn't be too bad." Alfred spoke to himself as he walked. And he'd get to spend more time with Arthur! And that's _was_ his goal, wasn't it? Yeah…

Alfred sighed, resigning himself to joining the club with Arthur.

But why did a Needlework Club even _exist_?

* * *

A/N :: : Mostly a dialogue chapter. Hah. ._. And the hints of some crushes developing.

Short because it's a sort of transitional chapter, ah. e e


	6. Chapter 6

So I think my interest in this story is dwindling, which is unfortunate because it was this story that made me decide to start writing again. Because of that I'm dead set on finishing it, but it may take longer than anticipated, just so those following the story know.

Maybe it's just because I have so many other ideas and prompts running around in my head. So I'll try to crank them all out to clear my mind. 8D

Anyway, I just reread my last chapter and cried at the abuse of the word "rather." Let's see if I can pay more attention to my vocabulary this time.

Enjoitsu.

* * *

Arthur sat at his little desk, pencil scratching against his paper, his neat hand writing appearing on the paper.

He sighed and shook his head, pausing his writing for a moment.

"What was that all about?" he wondered aloud, rubbing his arm with his free hand. "That annoying git comes around and I turn into a bloody schoolgirl with a crush." he groaned, smashing his forehead on his desk in irritation. The bolt of pain that shot through his head at the sudden contact made him groan again.

He had been trying to finish his coursework for some time, now. However, he found himself unable to as his thoughts kept returning to a certain blond American that would accost him at every chance he got.

It was ridiculous, really. Alfred was one of the most annoying people Arthur had ever had the displeasure of meeting. He had tried so hard to curb the crush he had developed on Alfred upon first meeting him- since he was a bloody moron and all- but it seemed to do nothing.

Arthur had actually thought that maybe, just maybe, spending some time with him and proving time and time again that he was a git would help in removing the crush. But it just seemed to do the opposite!

Alfred's stupidity became endearing. His obnoxious laughter made his heart beat faster. His lack of regard as far as personal space went brought a pleasant flush to his face.

All in all, Arthur wasn't getting over Alfred.

…

"So in other words, you needed somebody totally awesome to help you!" a feisty, white-haired male spoke, a German accent making his "w"s sound more like "v"s. A smirk found its home on his handsome face.

"Yeah! Because, man, this guy was like 'no you can't bloody come to my house you stupid git'." Alfred grumbled, imitating Arthur's accent horrendously.

The man in his company laughed, fingers wrapping tightly around a glass that held an amber liquid he promptly lifted to his lips. He took a long swig before slamming the glass onto the table, a satisfied "ah" parting his lips. Alfred shook his head, amused at his friend's antics. As awesome as his friend was, Alfred didn't get to see him often because he was already finished with high school and was… Well, actually, Alfred didn't know what he did.

"Bruder." a voice called from the other room before the source walked through the door. Ludwig blinked a few times, eying the glass in his brother's hand and then their company. "Alfred." he blinked again. "Gilbert, you didn't tell me Alfred was coming over."

"I didn't know!" the red-eyed German, Gilbert, announced, laughing in delight, "But that's okay! Surprises are awesome!"

Alfred laughed, nodding, "Yeah! And hey Ludwig!" he waved, pronouncing the German's name as absolutely American as was possible. "Maybe you can help, too!" Alfred's eyes widened.

Ludwig blinked again, expression never changing. "Maybe." he began, "Feliciano is upstairs, though."

"That's fine! Bring him down and he can help, too!" Alfred threw his hands up, offering Ludwig two thumbs up to show his approval. "The more the merrier, right?"

…

"Ve~?" Feliciano tilted his head to the side, "You need our help, Alfred?"

"Yeah! Sort of!" Alfred made a thoughtful little sound before continuing on, "My friend needs some help!"

Ludwig arched an eyebrow, staring intently at the blond sitting on his couch, "What friend?"

"Uh…" Alfred's eyes darted around the room quickly before settling on the beer bottle Gilbert was pouring into his glass, "Pauli, yeah, Paul."

Ludwig and Gilbert exchanged a glance that Alfred missed because he was so focused on what he was going to say and Feliciano didn't seem to notice the blatant lie.

"Ja. And this …Paul? What's his problem?" Ludwig asked, now keeping his eyes trained on Alfred's who couldn't seem to look anybody except Feliciano in the eyes.

"Well he has this friend, Ringo." Alfred grinned, appearing to be intensely proud of himself for his extremely clever cover-up story.

Gilbert choked back a laugh, nodding as a soft "kesese" leaked from his mouth. "Ja, ja, and what is the problem so big that you had to come to the awesome me?"

"Well, see… Uh… Paul, you know, has a crush on Ringo." he nods, ignoring the strange look Ludwig was giving him, "but every time he tries to talk to Ringo , it seems like Ringo hates him!"

"Paul should ask Ringo if he hates him!" Feliciano spoke suddenly.

"What?"

"Well if Paul thinks Ringo hates him, why doesn't he just ask?" tilting his head to the other side, Feliciano smiled warmly, "It worked for me!"

Ludwig blushed suddenly, clearing his throat while placing a hand on Feliciano's shoulder. "Fel-"

"Ve~! And then I told him he is my best friend and I love him and now I get hugs and kisses all the time!"

Ludwig's blank expression faltered for a moment, a flash of embarrassment shining in his eyes before he simply picked up the small Italian and carried him into the other room, ignoring the smaller man's protests of wanting to help. Gilbert laughed boisterously before jumping to his feet to follow them.

"Feli is so cute!" he shouted, waving his hand around, the beer in his glass sloshing up against the sides and spilling out.

Alfred sighed, forgotten. He stood up and showed himself to the door. This visit wasn't entirely useless, really. He did get one good piece of advice!

* * *

A/N:: Segmental, lol. Short? Idk. Stuff is happening, though! AND WHEN WILL WE GET TO THAT NEEDLEWORK CLUB?

Next chapter, actually. :3 Which will follow shortly.

Also. Lol Beatles. Sorry if that messed anybody's head up.


	7. Chapter 7

Sitting here in a warehouse watching all my parents' ( and some of my ) shit being unloaded and reloaded for delivery to the house down south! So fun. So fun.

It's a warehouse full of burly men that keep eyeballing me and I keep accidentally flirting with my eyes. Oh man, oh man, oh man. TwT

My waifu motivated me to write with her KIND AND LOVING words.

PS. DEDICATED TO KATOKATSU- THE FINLAND TO MY SWEDEN. *Bricked~

Not rly. But we like to tell people that. :3

Enjoitsu

* * *

Alfred sighed, letting himself be led by Arthur towards a wing of the school he was certain he'd never been to.

The art wing.

"Arty, do we really have to?"

"Nobody is forcing you to come." Arthur snapped, "And my bloody name is _Arthur_."

Alfred grinned, though Arthur wasn't looking at him and it was wasted. He let out another, overly dramatic sigh, trudging along as if he were trying to make his way through four feet of snow.

Finally Arthur stopped, turning to face the blond who smiled brightly when Arthur's eyes fell on his face. The poor British man blushed something fierce, his words coming out short and choppy, sounding extremely forced and unhappy.

"You… Go home! You don't… want to be here. Then leave!" Arthur tried to sound as fierce as he could but managed to only sound like a frustrated child throwing a temper tantrum.

Alfred's face fell, he actually seemed upset, "You don't want to spend time with me, Arty?"

Arthur's frown deepened, "Why would I want to spend more time with you than is absolutely necessary?" he snapped, accent sounding heavier, thicker. His words were calm, chosen carefully.

"I…" Alfred looked down towards the ground before lifting sad, ocean blue eyes to stare at the slightly shorter man, "Do you hate me, Arthur?"

Arthur's eyes widened in something akin to shock. Of course he had been trying to push the sunny blond away, but he hand't realised that Alfred _really_ did care- Despite what Matthew had said to him regarding the number of friends the American boy had.

"You do hate me, don't you?" Alfred's voice was, for once, quiet and heavy, clearly very sad; It made Arthur's heart ache to see Alfred so dejected.

"Er… Well… No." Arthur said finally, unable to meet Alfred's terribly sad eyes. Said sad eyes lit up immediately and Alfred threw his arms around his companion.

"I knew it! So we're friends, right?" Alfred's voice had returned to the cheery, obnoxious tone Arthur had become so accustomed to.

"A-ah…" Arthur squirmed in the strong grip, for once not wanting to push the younger blond away- not that he ever _actually _wanted to get out of his arms, but if he intended to rid himself of his ridiculous crush, he would have to not get used to being so close to Alfred. So close. His hair smelled so nice and Arthur just wanted to bury his face in the bigger boy's chest and stay in his arms all day.

"Mon dieu!" Francis cried, a bright smile on his face. "So you have finally told Arthur?"

Both Alfred and Arthur's eyes went wider than either thought possible, a blush found its way onto Arthur's cheeks as he shoved the surprisingly jittery American off of him. Then Arthur realised exactly what Francis said.

"What?" Arthur's eyes narrowed, brow furrowing impressively. "Told me what, Alfred?"

Alfred chanced a glance towards the other man, surprised when he saw eyes that were not angry but curious, lit up with something gentle that Alfred couldn't quite place. Instead of answering immediately, though, Alfred shuffled about, shoving his hands into his pocket. Though a blush had refused to make itself present on the American's face, Alfred was probably just as embarrassed by the situation as Arthur was, if not more-so, considering the Brit was more closed off with his emotions than he, himself, was.

"I decided to go with you to the club!" Alfred shouted, striking some strange pose and making Arthur sigh- he already knew that.

Francis shook his head, his absolutely gorgeous locks of hair bouncing this way and that before falling perfectly back into place. A dazzling smile was directed towards the pair, "Non, non, Alfred. Ah… Gilbert-" pronounced far more French than it ever should be, coming out closer to 'Gilbare' than his actual name "-told me all about your petit problem with l'amour."

Arthur raised one of those impressive eyebrows, his eyes glued to Alfred's face. "What problem with love, Alfred?"

"Oh!" Alfred continued shouting, "you mean Paul's problem! Yeah! Turns out Ringo doesn't hate him." his bright smile blinded Arthur for a moment- or maybe it was the sheer stupidity that caused his sight to go white for a heartbeat.

"Y-you… What is WRONG with you, you daft child?" Arthur's arms were thrown up into the air in frustration and he turned on his heel, determined to go to that damned needlework club if it was the last thing he did, whether Alfred came or not; At this point, sheer stubbornness forced Arthur forward.

Alfred stared at Francis, a smug smile on the later's face.

"Well, Paul. Should you not go chase after Ringo?"

The American's eyes went wide for the umpteenth time and he darted down the hall after the infuriated Brit. He knew the room the club was meeting in, but didn't know exactly where it was- just hoped it was in the direction Arthur had stomped down. And he would have such luck!

"Room 813."

Alfred slammed the door open, not filching in the slightest under the gaze of about a dozen girls and… Was that Ludwig's cousin? Alfred shook his head, easily picking Arthur's messy mane out of the small crowd of girls. The small man looked like he was trying to fuse his face with the table-top somehow or another- whatever it was, it couldn't be healthy.

And if he could, Arthur would have melted into the floor to escape the inevitable embarrassment to come from whatever it was Alfred was planning on doing.

And the embarrassment would come. Because as soon as Alfred was close enough to place a hand on Arthur's shoulder ( which he did immediately, letting his hand rest there while he made his announcement ), Alfred declared to the world:

"Arthur Kirkland, **I love you**!"

* * *

A/N:: You know, it's terribly annoying to write their names over and over, again. Haha. I'm sure I've mixed them up here and there in various chapters, but it's difficult. TwT And there's only so many adjectives I can use to draw attention to the correct male.

YOU KNOW?

And lololol. Room 813.

I'm awesome. Totally awesome.


	8. Chapter 8

So this fic is slowly coming to an end. But it won't be this chapter. o

Maybe not even the next one, idk yet. Depends on HOW THINGS PAN OUT

Anyway. Serious Alfred is serious in this chapter.

But not too serious.

Chapter is for my RP America, lul. Because she harassed me into posting it.

Enjoitsu

* * *

"You moron!" Arthur shouted, jumping from his seat, his chair falling back to clatter uselessly to the floor. The others in the room all turned to rest their eyes on the pair, curious whispers floating back and forth between the girls- the only other male in the room didn't seem to be interested and simply continued organizing his threads by colour.

"Ah, excuse me." A gentle, shaky voice, neither Arthur's or Alfred's, made itself aware and the two peered around for the source.

"I… Um… Maybe you should leave the room…" the woman's voice continued.

"And who the bloody hell are you?" Arthur asked, head whipping around to face the speaker- immediately blushing. The speaker in question was a tall, chubby blonde woman. Her hair was trimmed neatly around her face, a headband kept it in place. And most importantly- or rather what had made Arthur blush- was the fact that her top pulled so tightly against her massive bosom that it appeared the buttons would burst off and the breasts beneath would be freed from their clothy prison.

Arthur's mouth twitched, words wanting to come forth before he realised just WHO he was taking to.

The woman cleared her through, "Ah… I'm the home economics teacher. You know that, Arthur…" she shifted as if nervous. "I think you two should… Leave the room."

Alfred moved slightly, opening his mouth to speak and Arthur just happened to accidentally step on the former's foot in his haste to gather his belongings, causing the American to forget his words and instead shout "Ouch! Watch where you're stepping, Arty!"

Arthur slung his sack over his shoulder before grabbing the other boy by the bend of his elbow and dragging him out of the room.

"You do _not_ love me and you do _not_ need to announce such lies in front of others. Furthermore- my name is _not_ Arty, it's Arthur." said male shouted once the door to the room closed behind them. Instead of waiting for any sort of reply, Arthur simply turned and stomped off in the direction they initially came from, shoving Francis ( who was suspiciously close to the room's door ) aside to get to the hallway's exit.

"Ah… Alfred. You did not do it correctly." Francis chimed in, noting the rather upset look on Alfred's face.

"He said he didn't hate me, though."

"Go to him, mon ami." the wavy blond haired man pushed Alfred forwards by the shoulders towards where Arthur had retreated. Alfred stood there for a moment before glancing over his shoulder at Francis and making a decision.

He ran off down the hall, ignoring the shouts of "NO, RUNNING IN THE SCHOOL, ALFRED" that trailed after him.

…

"Arty- Arthur!" Alfred called, wandering around the main courtyard. He had asked around looking for the British man and most people had told him that the bushy-browed gentleman was in the courtyard… So here he was, wandering around and around, searching for the man he had just declared his love to.

Honestly, that wasn't really how he was expecting it to go.

Had he thought Arthur would swoon and fall into his arms the instant the words fell from his lips?

Did he think Arthur would immediately return the affection and they'd start dating and get married and be together forever?

Would Arthur rise from his seat and stand onto tip-toes and place a chaste- or even a really passionate- kiss on his lips?

Well. Of course he did.

At the very least he thought Arthur would be adult about the whole thing.

No such luck. And now he couldn't find the crazy man anywhere.

"Arthur where are you?" he repeated the phrase every few moment as he walked around the rather large courtyard, peering under bushes and behind trees until, finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of searching, he spotted the small British man seated, leaning against a rather large tree trunk.

"Hey, why didn't you answer me, Arthur?" he asked, leaning his giant frame over the smaller man.

Arthur jumped, startled- not even noticing Alfred's use of his whole name. "You bloody git." he mumbled, curling his knees up against his chest and pressing his face against said knees as he spoke, the words coming out garbled and barely understandable.

Alfred plopped himself down on the grass next to Arthur, similarly pulling his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He stared up into the tree shading them from the sun, remaining silent for just a few, blissful moments.

"You know, I meant it." he spoke softly to the man seated next to him.

His reply was immediate, "No, you bloody well did not, you twit." Arthur grumbled, turning his body so his back was to Alfred instead of the tree.

Alfred was silent again, much to Arthur's apparent delight. They sat there for some time, neither saying a word or daring to move. It wasn't too long before the silence became uncomfortable to Arthur and he shifted about uneasily, unwilling to give up his spot; he _was_ there first.

Alfred watched as Arthur squirmed; bright, blue eyes burning holes into the back of Arthur's head for he wasn't sure how long before Arthur turned to face him, a scowl dragging the corners of his lips down.

"What?" Alfred asked innocently, a small, apologetic smile playing across his lips.

"Take it back, then." Arthur snapped, his voice straining with something Alfred didn't notice.

"Take what back?"

"What you said, take it back."

"Why the hell would I do that when I went through all the trouble of telling you in the first place, Arty." when he received a glare, Alfred continued on, "I mean Arthur."

"Because you can't possibly mean it. It's an absolutely preposterous idea, really. And you aren't even my type." Arthur grumbled, a blush rising to his cheeks as he spoke.

"How could you know that! You can't read my mind!" Alfred stood, suddenly very irritated with the other man, "And you haven't even given me a chance! All you're done is call me stupid and stuff I don't even understand!"

Arthur stared blankly at Alfred- the boy wasn't helping his case _at all_. "I don't want to give you a chance."

"Why not?" Alfred cried, gesticulating much like Feliciano tended to do when he was worked up about something. "What have I done that's so terrible?"

_Made me fall in love with you_. "You're a bloody moron and I have no reason to be associating myself with you."

"Fine. Then I'll prove it!"

"What?" Arthur asked, incredulous.

"I'll prove I love you!" Alfred placed his hands on his hips, "Then you can't have any doubts."

"That wasn't a challenge, you twit."

"But I'll do it!" A grin spread across his face, lighting up his eyes. "And then you'll understand. I won't let you down!"

"There's nothing to let down, I don't have any faith in you to begin with." Arthur growled, but Alfred had already run off, too fast for him to have possibly heard anything Arthur just said.

The blond hoped nothing would come of it, but- knowing the American- he was sure that he actually _would_ try his best. Even if it was quite obviously untrue.

* * *

A/N:: So I don't know. Probably two or three more chapters. I miss the other characters. o And I have no motivation right now, haha.

And what. Arthur wants to get over his crush. Alfred isn't allowed to love him. O


End file.
